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Korea

An East Asian country, currently divided into two halves, a southern one which is our friend and a northern one which hates the world. Much like Dakota.

The former spelling is 'Corea', with which Sargon resistantly insists on persisting (with). More recently MrP and Thande have also adopted this spelling, irritating Susano and Abdul Hadi Pasha.

People usually limit discussions of Korean history to events concerning Joseon, as it was the last and longest-lasting unified dynasty, or the events that occurred afterward, such as the Korean War. However, Korea in general has maintained a unique identity for at least 3000 years, although it was not politically unified until 936, when Goryeo reunified the peninsula soon after Balhae's sudden collapse. Although Silla had been traditionally considered as the “unifier,” this technically only occurred for 30 years after 668, as Balhae took over most of Goguryeo's former domains soon after its foundation in 698.

Due to its proximity to China, it became heavily sinicized over time, similar to the situation in Japan and Vietnam, and initially promoted Buddhism under Goguryeo since 372, although after Joseon's foundation in 1392, the religion was eventually sidelined in favor of Confucianism. It also independently pioneered various technological innovations, many of which were based on prior Chinese ones. In particular, the syllabic blocks of Hangul were influenced by Chinese characters, although it used an unrelated phonetic system constructed through detailed analyses of various other writing systems.

Throughout its history, it experienced numerous invasions from 14 states, namely the Yan (Warring States), Qin, Han, Gongsun Clan, (Cao) Wei, Former/Later Yan, Sui, Tang, (Khitan) Liao, Jurchen (Jin), Mongol (Yuan), Japan (Hideyoshi), and Manchu (Qing). Of these, Goguryeo's wars with the Sui and Tang lasted for 70 years, and Goryeo with the Mongols for 29 years, along with a brief revolt ten years later. Despite these extensive conflicts, Korea managed to continuously maintain varying degrees of political independence until Japan annexed it in 1910 due to its increasing intervention since 1876.

Korea's territory changed drastically over the centuries, as although Southern Manchuria had been culturally Korean for over two millennia under Gojoseon, Buyeo, Goguryeo, and Balhae, everything north of Pyongyang was lost after the latter fell. However, Goryeo expanded to the Yalu (Amrok) and Tumen (Duman) Rivers within several centuries, and briefly controlled Liaodong under the Yuan until the Ming seized the area. Goguryeo and Balhae also essentially functioned as empires, in which the former maintained a complex system of tributaries, although neither was able to unify the peninsula as Baekje, Silla, and Gaya resisted Goguryeo's attempts for several centuries, despite significant territorial losses, while Silla eventually confronted Balhae after conquering Gaya in 562 and Baekje in 660. The Korean states also culturally influenced their neighbors, specifically Japan from AD 300-900, and the Jurchen/Manchu since the 10th century. Although Korea remained politically unified under Goryeo and Joseon for over a millennia, it was partitioned into two political entities under the Americans and Soviets after World War II, and the division still exists today as a lingering remnant of the Cold War.

While North Korea is famous for being an attempt to turn 1984 into reality, and a state which has an ideology of self-reliance (Juche) and is simultaneously more dependent on foreign aid than any other, South Korea is chiefly noted for (according to Thande) fabricating absolutely all their scientific results. It's also full of empty airports and its people treat Starcraft as a national sport-cum-religion. However, the South still hasn't caught up to the North in the weirdness stakes yet.

South Korean dramas, which have currently conquered the popularity in Hawaii and any place that one can get their hands on them. It is unknown if Korean dramas (nicknamed K-dramas) have tied up with Japanese Dramas (nicknamed J-Dramas).

Only one timeline about the place exists, in which it hasn't been conquered by Japan/China/Russia, also doubling as the first and only Korean Wank: Korean Empire, by democracy101. After much criticism, the timeline was then heavily revamped in terms of detail and research for two years, and was recreated as A Completely New and Original Idea in 2012, which then experienced another reincarnation as A Light in the East late in that year.


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offtopic/korea.txt · Last modified: 2019/03/29 15:13 by 127.0.0.1

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